Never-Ending Tourism: Tourism Experience Scenarios for 2030

Abstract

The advent of recent technological advancements, and particularly, the metaverse, has brought unprecedented opportunities for tourism. The integration of multiple realities extends tourism beyond the traditional chronological classification of pre-travel, during-travel, and post-travel stages. The novel concept of never-ending tourism captures a holistic multi-dimensional experience in which technological solutions are at the foundation to elevate tourism to an on-going, never-ending activity that permeates every day and travel life. This study adopted a futures methods approach through qualitative in-depth interviews and a scenario development supported by a storytelling technique. The findings present three distinct scenarios of never-ending tourism on a spectrum of digital companion, digital escape and digital connection. The scenarios suggest a growing importance of the pre-travel and post-travel phases, while technologies continue support visitors to enjoy the irreplaceable multisensory experiences on site. Towards 2030, the metaverse will enable visitors to mentally teleport themselves to destinations, regardless of time, financial resources and physical abilities. Individuals will seamlessly move between integrated digital and physical realities, where the engagement with travel becomes a part of daily life. The study is novel and original in that it empirically explores the emerging concept of never-ending tourism and contributes to the wider metaverse discourse in the tourism context. Several practical suggestions and future research directions are given to unlock the potential of never-ending tourism in relation to integrated experience design, new business models and long-term customer engagement.